Improvement in catamenial sacks



J. C. BENZINGER.

Catamenigl Sack. No- 57,665. Patented Sept. 4, I866.

N. PETERS, Hwtn-Lilhogrlphur. Washinlhn. v.0.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOSEPH G. BENZINGER, OF-GATONSVILLE, MARYLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN CATAMENIAL SACKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 57,665, dated September 4, 1866.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Dr. JOSEPH (J. BEN- ZINGER, of Oatonsville, in the county of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gatamenial Sacks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a sack made according to my invention. Fig. 2 represents the band or guide by means of which the sack is secured to the person of the patient. Fig. 3 represents the apparatus in use.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The object of this invention is to produce a catamenial sack which will tend to maintain the person of the patient in a cleanly condition and which will prevent chafing. The apparatus is secured to the person by agirdle, a certain part of which is made elastic, so as to allow it to conform to changes of posture and of dimensions without requiring to be altered, and without causing distress or inconvenience.

The girdle is designated by the letter A. It is made of fine leather or other suitable material, the part which comes next to the person being lined with canton-flannel or other soft material, and the edges of the girdle are bound with silk ribbon or other suitable material. The girdle is made of various lengths, and it may be about two and one-half inches wide. One end is provided with a buckle, and the other with an elastic strap of the material known as garter-web, or other suitable elastie material, such strap being provided with numerous eyeletholes to engage with the tongue of the buckle. From the lower edge of the girdle, at proper points to engage the straps of the sack, hereinafter described, project two pads lined on the inside with some soft material, and having on the outside each a buckle. Another buckle is placed on the outside of the girdle at about the middle of its length. The buckle near the end of the girdle, which receives its own strap, is placed on the end of a short elastic strap.

The sack is designated by the letter B. Its

body is made of fine and soft morocco or other suitable material, which is cleanly and will not easily become soiled or worn. The part M is expanded in breadth, in order to cover the nates of the patient, and enable the straps of the sack behind to ascend the back toward the girdle without coming in the cleft.- The said part M is covered on the inside with fine cantoirflannel or other suitable material, and from its extremities or corners extend elastic straps "W W, which are engaged by the buckles of the girdle. The forward part of the sack N is covered with oiled silk or its equivalent, the line P marking the place where the silk and the canton-flannel are connected to each other and to the body of the sack. The whole of the sack is bound on the edges with silk.

The part N is made in the form of a trough by extending elastic straps t, three in number in this example, from edge to edge, the length of the straps when not strained or stretched being about two inches, so as to make the top of the trough of about that width. The end of thepart N is narrowed by lapping the corners It It over each other, as shown in the drawings. The end .at It has an cyeleted strap, X, of suitable elastic material, which is engaged by the buckle at the middle of the girdle. The length of the sack from the part It to the back part of the part M is about fourteen inches, and the breadth of the part M between the straps W is about ten inches.

I place a suitable absorbing material-such, for example, as a sponge-in the trough of the part N, beneath the straps t, which latter hold the sponge in place. The spongeis moistened before it is placed in the trough, and its shape is to be long and narrow, like that shown in the'drawings at O. A sponge of proper size to fill the trough will hold two ounces (more or less) of liquid matter, and will therefore absorb the secretions of the patient with certainty.

In applying the apparatus to the person of a patient, the girdle is first buckled around the waist, the strap being behind. The sack is'then put on, the part B being placed in front and the part M behind, the several elastic straps \V, W, and X being carried up toward the girdle, by means of whose buckles they are secured.

The girdle and its pads being lined with a soft mateiial offer a broad, soft surface to the skin, thus obviating the tendency to chafe. The girdle can be adjusted With'nicety by means of its eyeleted strap, as can also the sack itself, and all the straps being elastic allow of the natural swelling of the abdomen after eating or from other causes without inconvenience to the wearer.

Since the body of the sack is lined on the back part with soft material, and on the front part with oiled silk, it affords to one part of the body a soft surface and to the other a surface entirely impervious to moisture.

The elastic cross straps or bands 25 over the partNof the sack afford a ready means of applying and securing in place the sponge C, and they draw the sponge and sack into a rounded form, convenient to the patient, While the top of the trough is open, being wholly occupied, except where the narrow bands occur,by the top of the sponge.

The morocco body of the sack allows the apparatus to be readily cleansed, if soiled, and it also yields to the motions of the body with ease.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The expanded flap M, extending backward from the trough of the sack, so as to cover the nates and carry the straps W W be yond that part of the person, substantially as set forth.

2. The sack made substantially as described, with a flap, M, and a trough, N, in combination with an elastic girdle, substantially as described.

JOSEPH 0. BENZINGER, M. D.

- Witnesses:

M. M LIVINGSTON, ALEX. F. RoBER'rs. 

